Hummel’s affinity with Mozart’s musical language went back a long way. It began in 1786, when the very young Johann Nepomuk lodged with the Mozart family in their home for two years. Here, the young musician participated in the public and private life of the composer, coming into direct contact with all the works that emerged during those years, which were indisputably among the most fertile of Mozart’s entire career.

Hummel’s interest in, and deep knowledge of, his teacher’s works for fortepiano and orchestra is attested by many accounts: apart from witnessing the birth of several masterpieces from these years, Hummel must himself have studied these pieces on more than one occasion with his teacher, giving public performances of them, also in his presence.

This recognised authority, added to the widespread approval that he enjoyed as a composer and to a growing desire in the music world to rediscover the masters of the past, created the context in which Hummel produced his numerous transcriptions (approximately fifty), which are scored principally for flute, violin, cello and fortepiano.

The particular historical value of these transcriptions resides also in the solutions offered by Hummel for the application of improvisatory practices, particularly the inclusion of cadenzas and Eingänge (in the outer movements) and the embellishments, ‘expressly written’, mainly in the middle movements.